New

Used

2006 Audi A3 - Review

We'll send you an email whenever there's new information about the Audi A3.

Alert Me!

Thank you! We will notify you when reviews, news, and incentives are released for this vehicle.

What will I get by subscribing to email updates?

At The Car Connection we are continually striving to get you timely, relevant information about the vehicle you are interested in. Our email updates will notify you whenever we have new information on this vehicle.

For example:

new car reviews for this model by our editors

news including price changes, new models, or recall info

new incentives and rebates that are being offered for this vehicle

Our goal is to keep you informed as you research!

We'll send you an email whenever there's new information about the Audi A3.

Alert Me!

Thank you! We will notify you when reviews, news, and incentives are released for this vehicle.

MONACO
— Here in
the conspicuous consumption capital of the world, you might feel slightly naked
without your exotic Ferrari or Lamborghini as you cruise the Cote d’Azur in
search of handmade perfumes and instantly distilled envy. But it’s best to leave
them at home, really: driving your supercar can really be a drag here, since one
of the premium products adored locally is parking. Just try to find a slot for
even the mini-est MINI when hordes of gawkers descend to soak up the Frisco fog
of ultraluxury. Unless your name begins with Prince, it’s going to take some
circling.

Audi can’t help you with
the envy thing. But the parking thing’s a breeze with the A3, the most compact
of Audi’s cars conveyed to North Americans. (There’s an aluminum A2 city car
sold in Europe, but its tall-narrow-short monospace shape seems to be missing
its Matchbox logo along with its entry visa.) The A3 five-door will rightly be
known with the suffix Sportback when it migrates to the States, and will be
pitched at those hazily defined active-lifestylers who never sit down long
enough to be properly tagged for observation.

The
Sportback treks across the Atlantic in May 2005 as the entry-level vehicle in
the brand’s U.S. lineup. At about $25,000 base, the A3 Sportback will occupy a
unique niche that’s not quite station wagon and not quite hot-hatch. Audi poses
the Mazda3, Saab 9-2X, MINI and other jazzy more-than-two-doors as possible
competition, but given its upscale heritage and five-door format, it’s difficult
to pin down exactly what you’d price out on Edmunds or Kelly Blue Book before
going out to comparison shop.

Don’t get too caught up
in trying to categorize the Sportback. It’s way more engaging to drive one and
figure out all the things you could accomplish in it: zip around the Cote d’Azur
trying to re-locate the cleverly hidden airport in Nice, for example, or
stuffing it with snorkels, swim fins, and a picnic basket laden with salade Nicoise.
The Sportback’s roomy enough to take on all these tasks, and actually, it’s
roomy enough to displace a few shoppers out of the more expensive and not much
larger A4
sedan.

Though a full-fledged
Audi, the Sportback has more in common with its country cousins in Wolfsburg. As
the A4 family shares some genetic traits with the Volkswagen Passat, the
Sportback’s underpinnings presage those in the fifth-generation Golf that we’ll
see Stateside in mid-2006, first in the new VW GTI. In its initial offering the
Sportback will be a front-drive model, with a six-cylinder-powered,
all-wheel-driven, DSG-geared 3.2 S model to come in calendar year
2006.

If the Sportback were in
primary school it would be admonished for being a “me-firster.” Not only does
the architecture show up in the States before the hardy perennial Golf, it drags
with it a new turbocharged four-cylinder engine that swirls its gas-air vapors
into a tizzy with some world-first technology.

Euros will be well
confused by their Sportback’s choice of seven engines, including two diesels.
Audi has simplified the offerings down to two powerplants for single-minded
Americans, though. And initially, it’s just VW/Audi’s newest 2.0-liter,
turbocharged four that gets its passport stamped.

Rightfully
so, Audi crows that the engine is the world’s only turbo four with direct injection.
A techno milestone, the engine outperforms the company’s older turbos and
seems much happier about the task of breathing out 200 horsepower and 207
pound-feet of torque. The powerband is a wide one, the throttle sweetly tuned
for quick tip-in, and the torque curve’s as flat as can be expected from a
turbo. More important for Audi’s upmarket crowd, the turbo four sounds and feels as
silky as a six-cylinder, with very little whistle and roar passed through
to the Sportback’s cabin. Teamed to a short-throw, snicky six-speed shifter,
Audi says the base Sportback will hustle to 60 mph in less than 7.0 seconds and
will top out at 130 mph.

Next year, the Sportback will be joined by the 3.2, shod
with all-wheel drive and Audi’s 3.2-liter V-6. That engine’s 250 hp will be disseminated through
Audi’s DSG gearbox, a Formula 1-style sequential shifter that’s among the best of
its type (BMW’s SMG and Toyota’s sequential shifters included). The Sportback 3.2 will,
Audi claims, hit a top speed of 130 mph and will
accelerate to 60 mph in less than 6.3 seconds. ( DSG will also be available on the
turbo.)

Nice
package

As it’s kin to the
evergreen Golf, the Sportback’s suspension is far from mysterious. Front
MacPherson struts and a four-link design in back offer up a deft combination of
grip and poise that, no surprise, are pretty reminiscent of the most recent GTI.
We zigzagged our car up Provencal hills in search of perfect vistas and perhaps
a clean toilette, and the Sportback
took on 15-degree hairpins and long, gradual curves with universal eagerness. It
pretty much campaigns to be your best friend, never really complaining when you
push it deeply into corners, scrubbing off speed with just a little tire whine
and never transmitting more than a firm thwop and a slight jostle into the
cabin.

Part of the joy of the
Sportback’s demeanor is realizing
that at least one company can tune an eletromechanical power-steering rack and
endow it with true feeling. Drive a Saturn ION and a Sportback and the ION’s
steering gear will stand out like William Hung opening for the Three Tenors.
Audi’s setup is full of feedback, appropriate heft, and linear response. The
Sportback’s brakes feel strong and powerful, too, with ideal pedal feel and
travel.

Dimensional analysis of
the Sportback finds that the wheelbase has grown versus the original,
non-U.S.-market A3. Subjectively the interior package seems substantial enough
for four adults, especially in the front seats where shoulder room is amply
broad and the ceiling height is suitably tall. It’s in the rear where things get
a little tight: with the driver-side chair pushed to reasonable six-foot
comfort, adult rear passengers will have knee and toe room enough to wiggle out
of their fair share of driving, and enough head room to keep from Velcro-ing
their hair extensions to the fabric headliner, but not much more. As for
versatility, the Sportback will stow 13.1 cubic feet of stuff behind the rear
seatbacks, or about 41 cubic feet with the 60/40 rear bench seats folded
down.

Hardwired into the
Sportback’s unibody is an extensive array of safety gear. Dual front and
side-curtain airbags are stitched and tucked into the dash and door trim, active
head restraints are built into the seats and stability control is programmed
into the vehicle’s mainframe, along with anti-lock brakes and traction
control.

Tasteful
application

Audi’s framed the A3
Sportback with its toothsome new grille, a tall metallic-ringed affair that will
take some time to appear natural. One instant bold and tasteful, the next
instant it seems ready to vacuum the road. The silhouette from sideview is taut
and pleasing and more finely detailed than any of its general competitors,
excluding the exquisite MINI.

Inside the Sportback’s a slight step down from Audi’s
benchmark interiors in the A4 and A8. Ergonomically it’s faultless: the
three-spoke steering wheel frames the gauges perfectly and tilts and telescopes
for a custom fit, and the seats are supportive, firm and stuffed in the right
places.

Still, it’s unusual to
sink into a cozy Audi cockpit and not find the ubiquitous wood trim. In America,
aluminum trim will decorate the interior. The least Audi-like material sits atop
the dash — a rubberized plastic cap that’s more open-grain than the textures
you’ll see on A4 Avants.

The DVD-based navigation
brings the VW empire into technological harmony with the rest of the world (some
VW navi systems in the U.S. still use CD-ROMs, and require a changer to hold all
the discs). Not only does the Audi DVD navi we sampled have a DVD mated to a CD
changer in the glovebox, it also has a pair of SD card slots tucked behind the
six-inch LCD navi/radio screen. Controlled with Audi’s MMI interface, the
navi/radio setup probably is the easiest, most user-friendly of the group that
includes BMW’s unfortunately dense iDrive and the sometimes impenetrable Benz
COMAND system.

You’ll think it’s the Roaring Nineties again when you scan the list of
standard goodies. Every turbo four Sportback shipped to the U.S. will be crammed with
17-inch alloy wheels, an AM/FM/CD player pre-wired for satellite radio,
dual-zone climate control, power windows, central locking and an alarm. The
options list will offer up an Open Sky panoramic sunroof, a Bose sound upgrade,
a DVD-based navigation system, xenon headlamps (bi-xenon lamps yet to come on
the V-6), leather trim, a power driver’s seat, rear side airbags, heated front
seats.

The Sportback 3.2 ponies up to sport seats, a special grille and door sill trim,
new bumpers, a roof spoiler and fog lamps.

A tasty blend of Audi
heritage goes into the A3 Sportback. It feels as nimble as the old Coupe GTs
with the versatility of the smaller A4 Avant, and sits more sleekly than either.
Audi plans to sell about 20,000 each year in the U.S., with 16,000 turbo fours
and 4000 DSG V-6 Sportbacks baked into the marketing plan. Even given the
charming choices it’s up against, the Sportback seems destined for an active
lifestyle all its own.

The TCC Rating is a clear numeric rating value based on a 10-point scale that reflects the overall opinion of our automotive experts on any vehicle and rolls up ratings we give each vehicle across sub-categories you care about like performance, safety, styling and more.

Our rating also has simple color-coded “Stop” (red), “Caution” (orange), or “Go” (green) messages along with the numerical score so you can easily understand where we stand at a glance.

Our automotive experts then also collect and show you what other websites say about these different aspects of any vehicle. We do this leg work for you to simplify your research process.